However, whether shaded or sunny, I found it very difficult to get most plants or grasses to grow well in the clay soil on our property. In some areas, I have added soil with mixed results. In the end, the plants that have done the best have had the clay soil removed and replaced with a new, rich, and black soil.
The season of Lent reminds us that this exercise, removing the old and replacing it with the new, is to be a lifestyle for the disciple of Christ. But similar to my planting experiments, we often try to add the new soil of change to the existing soil of our lives hoping for bountiful growth. It doesn’t happen, and thus, our spiritual growth looks wilted, tired, and hardly worth the effort.
Ephesians 4:
22 You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Repentance is about change; a change of thinking, and a change of living. Through the power of the Spirit, we can continually scrape back and dispose of the toxic soil of our poor beliefs shaped by our erroneous thinking, fear, and multiple idols. We are then able to fill the space left by this removal with the soil of humility and truth as found in Jesus Christ. In this process, we come to the authoritative Word of God NOT as book of suggested readings, choosing what we want to hear and what we want to ignore, but as the authoritative communication of our God regarding true life and salvation.
We must be prepared to change when the faithful incarnational community of Christ helps us see our poor behavior, ways, and hopes. We must hunger and thirst after righteousness, constantly assuming our need. We must replace the old with the desire for a changing heart, and thus, a continually changing of spirit and behavior.
Jesus is not in the “tweaking” business; he is in the business of transformation. Tweakers are those, who largely have little soil they believe they should remove. They don’t mind adding some new soil or ideas but are resistant to the removal of the soil to which they are accustomed. Those being transformed understand their need for a constant overhaul on a constant basis. Their need is great, and their freedom in Christ—freedom from their slavery to themselves, the kingdom of this world, and the power of the Evil One—continues to release them from their chains.
May Christ free us all. Thanks, be to God.
Fr. Tom Reeves
The Epistle - March and April 2017
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
Father Thomas Reeves, Pastor/